No on Measure A

FSB Core Strategies was retained in early 2015 to lead the fight against a ballot measure in the City of Buena Park that would have had disastrous public policy ramifications for economic development. When the owners of the Los Coyotes Country Club revealed plans to make several improvements to their privately owned property, including construction of high-end residential housing, several neighboring residents took sharp objection.

Rather than working with the Los Coyotes owners and the City to reach solutions, they refused to come to the table and instead deliberately undertook a false and misleading campaign to the citizens of Buena Park and convinced them that the City and developers wanted to take away city parks in order to build condos.

While the proponents of this ballot measure, dubbed Measure A, managed to mislead enough voters to get their proposal on the ballot, numerous interests in the City immediately recognized the threat it posed to economic development, private property rights, job creation and basic good public policy crafting. FSB worked with business and labor interests, local elected officials, developers and residents to craft a platform and message to Buena Park voters. Faced with a unique and challenging all-mail special election, FSB mounted an aggressive campaign to counter the opposition that included:

Public opinion surveys that measured the public’s awareness of the issue, their initial feelings, and what kind of messaging moved their opinion

Voter outreach that identified which voters were most likely to cast a ballot, what direction they might lean, and thus what message to craft and how to deliver it

Multimedia advertising and voter engagement, including social media and digital platforms, as well as traditional mail and telemarketing

Targeted mailing that factored in party affiliation and other demographic keys from the time ballots arrived until they were received by county elections officials

Door-to-door visits that increased public awareness of the campaign and turned a policy issue that was tough to explain and understand into a concise set of messages for Buena Park voters

At the end of the campaign, FSB was responsible for delivering a solid victory for our client on a complex public policy measure which had been polling at over 70% voter approval at the start of the campaign and ended up losing by over ten percentage points at the end.